Happy Hannukah!
On the evening of December 4, Jewish families around the globe will light their Chanukiahs to celebrate the Festival of Lights. It commemorates events that took place in the land of Judea (now Israel) 2,300 years ago: specifically the great victory won by the Maccabees, who fought against the evil Syrian King Antiochus. He wanted them to reject their God and their religion in favor of the Greek gods. Many refused – including a man called Judah Maccabee.
Judah and his brothers set up an army which they named Maccabee, which means ‘hammer’. After three years of fighting they defeated Antiochus and were able to restore and rededicate the Jewish temple, which had been completely defiled. But when they wanted to light the N’er Tamid, the eternal light present in every Jewish temple, they discovered there was only enough oil for one day – but, miraculously, the light kept burning for eight days. So Hannukah lasts for eight days to commemorate the miracle of the oil.
What happens at Hannukah?
Lighting the Chanukiah…
The Hannukah Menorah has nine spaces for candles – one for each of the eight nights, and one for the Shamash, or servant candle. The Shamash candle is lit first, and it is then used to light another candle each night. Candles are lit each evening, and go from left to right. Blessings are said – and traditional songs sung - when the candles are lit.
Eating…
Because of the miracle that occurred with the oil, the foods eaten around Hannukah tend to be fried in oil. Popular dishes include doughnuts and potato pancakes called latkes (see our recipe below). These are often served with apple sauce or sour cream.
Hannukah latkes recipe
You’ll need…
- 4 cups potatoes, peeled and grated
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1½ tsp salt
- Pepper to taste
- Oil for cooking
Combine grated potatoes with onion, salt, flour and pepper. Stir egg into mixture. Heat oil in skillet and spoon in tablespoons of the latke mixture to form patties. Lightly brown on both sides. Serve with apple sauce or sour cream.
Presents…
Hannukah usually occurs around the same time of year as Christmas and families exchange presents – often one small present for each of the eight days.
And playing…
A Dreidl is one of the most recognisable symbols of Hannukah. It’s a four-sided spinning top, with letters on the sides: shin, hey, gimel and nun. Put together, they mean ‘A Great Miracle Happened There’.
In order to play dreidl, you need some chocolate coins, raisins or nuts. Each player starts with a certain number of these and puts one in a pot in the middle. They then start spinning the dreidl in turn. If it stops on a nun they get nothing; if it stops on a gimel they take all the coins/raisins in the pot; if it stops on hey they take half of what’s in the pot and if it stops on a shin they must put one token in the pot. The game is over when one person has all the coins.